29.08.07

COOKTOWN

Up fairly early and into Coles in Mareeba by 830 where we did some basics, also spoke to a chap in the street about the Porta Bote, I should have franchise as I have “sold” quite a few on the road. Still verging on rain and did so at Mount Molloy (and again in Cooktown).

Road up is very hilly to mountainous in places, stopped at Palmer River the site of a very big gold rush in the 1880’s. This was the cause of Cooktown’s growth as there are a lot of old buildings here including banks etc. We saw Ron and Kath again at Palmer River and also a family of 4 mum dad and 2 teenage daughters, in a 1950’s Vauxhall that we had seen earlier in Croydon. At that stage they were having trouble with a wheel bearing and they had the car (and trailer) taken into Cairns where they had new bearings flown up from Melbourne. I think they live in NSW and had been on a Vauxhall rally to Darwin and had then come east, blooming long way!

Some great scenery on the way to Cooktown including the Black Mountains which were very high but made up of big black boulders piled on top of each other.

Arrived in Cooktown about 1400 and booked into a Big 4 park which is very nice, they said there is wireless internet but then found out you have to pay and was quite expensive. Cooktown appears to be as yet unspoiled by progress and is a nice place but blowing a gale, windy as anything. Went to the wharf area where there were some people fishing and three aboriginal girls had a legal barra in the esky. The interesting thing was that everyone was only using light hand lines but with a bloody big hook. Some were using live bait that they caught with throw nets although some were hooking small stripies. The tide was very low with mud flats and a lot of boats stranded in the mud, after tea went back and the tide was coming in full bore and was only a little below the jetty.

Later that evening I found my hat sitting under the pack rack at the back of the car, the door must have closed on it and held it in place, last time I remember seeing it was at Palmer River 160 k’s back!